


PIECES OF YOU - A Shingeki No Kyojin AU

by Keller0301



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Best Friends, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-02
Updated: 2019-06-01
Packaged: 2019-11-08 03:12:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17973374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Keller0301/pseuds/Keller0301
Summary: In this AU, Reiner lost his memories during the attack of wall Rose, he forgot everything about his past, including the fact that he is the Armor Titan.Annie and Bertolt never succeeded to make him remember, so they tried to accomplish their mission without him. Here, Annie has never been captured by the Scouts, when Reiner lost his memories, she decided to join the Scouts with Bertolt. It turns out, every attempts to abduct Eren failed, so the two of them decided to leave the walls.This story takes place a couple of months after they disappeared, in the year 851. Everybody thinks that they left because they were too scared to die on a mission. They are now considered as traitors, but not for the good reasons of course.)IT'S A REICON FANFICTION!ps: thank you to my beta reader who is the BEST OF ALL.ps2: I choose not to put any warnings at the moment, because I don't know where I am going with this story.(every one is a year older, so Reiner is 18 and Connie 16 almost 17)





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> Hello guys! 
> 
> This is my first fanfiction EVER. Why about Reiner and Connie? Because there is not enough stories about them! haha. 
> 
> I'm French by the way. PLEASE, keep in mind that English is not my native language and that I am trying my best. It is a really good way for me to improve my writing skills. 
> 
> oh, and I don't really know where I am going with this story. 
> 
> Enjoy! :p

**“Reiner? Reiner? What are you doing?”** Marco cried. **“Please, please don’t leave me here, why are you guys doing this?”**

*****

*****

*****

**“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH”** Marco shouted one last time.

 

And then, nothing. Just blood and a vision of horror.

 

Reiner is awake, his heart is pounding so fast in his chest that he feels dizzy. _‘It’s just a nightmare’_ , he thought.  It’s the middle of the night, probably around 3 a.m. as usual. It became something normal for Reiner to wake up at night, it’s always the same horrific dream. He dreams about Marco’s death, over and over again without even knowing why or how his brain imagines something that never actually happened. At least this is what Reiner wants to believe. The tall blond knows that he was someone else before the loss of his memories, and he is pretty sure that he was not as good as everyone thought he was. Will he ever know? That’s the question. A little bit more than a year and there is nothing. He doesn’t remember his old days, only pieces of events when he was training to become a soldier, small memories of people or feelings. But that’s it. He is not able to remember the name of his village, how his life was before all of this. Pretty much nothing. Of course, his comrades helped him a lot, apparently he used to share a bit of himself when he was younger, which he is grateful for. Today, he was just living his life as a member of the Survey Corps. Did it matter if he couldn’t recall everything about his life? Sometimes it did, but for the moment, he was just happy to be alive and surrounded by his friends, his family.

 

Reiner got up of his bed. Connie didn’t wake up this time, probably because the younger boy was too tired from the previous day. Training with the Scouts turned out to be tougher than when they were cadets, now, every training sessions is like Hell on Earth. Even Reiner who was probably the most athletic of his class (physically speaking. Mikasa was still the number one of their class, even if Eren was able to turn into a titan), it was really hard for him to keep up sometimes.   
  


The blond went to the bathroom, wanted to remove the rest of his nightmare off of his face. He looked at his reflection in the mirror, still the same stern face, but with a little more of facial hair. When he turned eighteen, Reiner had decided to grow his beard a little bit, not that he had a lot, which Sasha couldn’t stop reminding him of. But he didn’t care, he liked it and the beard helped him to be more confident. He also knew that Connie liked it too, even if the smaller boy never really said anything about it, he could sense it.

Their relationship had changed a lot over the last months. When Reiner got hurt during the attack on Rose wall, Connie was the one who protected him while he was unconscious, even at the end of the battle, while everyone was exhausted by that terrible day, he stayed by his side until he was sure that the tall blond was well taken care of. When Reiner woke up, Connie was there too, welcoming him with a big smile. Even though Reiner didn’t remember who he was, deep down he knew that Connie was his friend.

  
Since that day, there was not a day that went by without Reiner being with Connie, even during missions, they stick together, and it turned out that they made a pretty good pair. They were called “The golden boy and the grey arrow” because Reiner always had been an excellent soldier, he graduated second of their class at training camps and before his blackout, he helped a lot during the attack of Rose wall. Connie turned out to be as good as him, he is so fast sometimes that the only thing that you can see when he is maneuvering his gear, is a grey trait, ready to attack titans.

That was their nicknames. Of course, they were not the only two prodigies of the squad. Everyone added something special in the team.

 

Once he was done in the bathroom, Reiner came back to his bed. He didn’t want to go back to sleep, a little bit scared to have another nightmare. The big man was sometimes ashamed to feel this way after a bad dream, he was supposed to be an adult now, but he didn’t know how to shake this feeling away.

 

 **“Reiner?”** said Connie still half-asleep. **“Are you okay?”** he asked before scratching a match to light up the room.

 **“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you”** replied Reiner quietly. **“I’m fine, go back to sleep”** he added while looking at his hands. It was still hard sometimes for Reiner to let people know that something was wrong. But of course, Connie always knew.

The younger man shifted his body to face the blond. **“Now that I’m awake, I’ll stay with you for a bit”** Connie said smiling. How come Connie knew him so well? Why did he care so much about the big guy? After all this time, Reiner still wondered.

 

They stayed like this for a while, without exchanging any words. Just looking at each other. Reiner should have felt weird about this, but on the contrary, it felt good, he knew Connie had his back and it felt incredible. **“Thank you Con.”** Reiner said. **“You’re always there when I need it.”** He added shyly.

Connie didn’t say anything after that, he just smiled, like he always do.


	2. Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys!
> 
> here's chapter two! 
> 
> I'm French by the way. PLEASE, keep in mind that English is not my native language and that I am trying my best. It is a really good way for me to improve my writing skills.
> 
> Enjoy! :p

If there was something that Connie didn’t like, it was certainly morning. He hated it, even when he was a kid, he remembered that it was always a problem for his mother to wake him up. Now that he is older, it’s probably worse. One thing is certain, it’s that his friend, Reiner Braun, is well aware of that, and he doesn’t even try more than a couple of times to wake him.

 Speaking of Reiner, the two of them had stayed up late last night, not that it was something that Connie minded. What was bothering Connie though, was that the taller guy had had a nightmare again. Connie knew what it was about, it was always the same dream: Marco’s death. Connie remembered the first time Reiner had woken up from a bad dream, he had screamed so loudly that the smaller boy had thought that a titan had entered the perimeters of the Castle, where the Scouts had settled their quarters. But it turned out that it was just a dream, a really bad one. He still remembers how it felt, being so helpless, not able to do anything to make him feel better. It was terrible. Since that night, Connie made a promise to himself: to be awake every time that Reiner had a nightmare. It wasn’t much, but still something.

 An hour passed uneventfully with Connie still in his bed, lost in his thoughts. Eventually, he decided to get up, he didn’t want to be punished by Captain Levi for staying in bed too late, and he was starting to get hungry too, and an empty stomach to start a day was never a good thing.

After getting ready, he left his room. He met Christa on his way the mess hall. Her room was two doors away from theirs, and she shared it with Ymir. Of course, she was with Ymir. These two were always side-by-side. A little bit like Reiner and him.  
They ate breakfast at the mess hall and once they were done with their meals, they went outside to join the others who were already prepared to face their training session with Levi.

 It was a beautiful Saturday morning. Usually, Connie enjoyed morning practice because it was not too warm for any of them to be too sweaty at the end of their training. The wind was also cooler and sometimes Connie could hear the air whistling in his hears, like some kind of invisible ghost, especially during their joggings. The Castle was situated in the countryside part of wall Shina, which was a perfect place for training. Usually, they ran down the small forest or alongside the river for an hour or two, and then they practiced their maneuvering gears and tactics in the woods. Ordinarily, Connie liked running alone. It was a good way for him to settle his mind for the day and to listen to the quiet nature that surrounded them.

 Connie started running when Sasha stopped him. **“Hey Connie, have you seen Reiner?”** She asked. **“Captain Levi needs him and Mikasa for a special training session with Eren.”** Eren had succeeded mastering his titan form, but according to Captain Levi, he still needed to learn more about his abilities. So every now and then, a couple of them were acting as bait to train him, which is fine for Connie. It’s not every day that you can face a Titan without the risk of being eaten alive.

  **“I don’t know”** Connie replied, crossing his arms over his chest. **“He had already left our room this morning when I woke up”** he explained, while watching over after the big guy. **“Did you ask the others?”** He asked, worriedly.

  **“No, usually he’s with you, so I didn’t ask anyone yet.”** She said smiling. **“But don’t worry too much Con. I’m sure he’s fine. Maybe he was hungry and went back to the kitchen?”** She said, already drooling over the thought of having a piece of whatever meat she liked so much.

  **“It’s not like Reiner to miss a training session”** Connie said, a serious ton in his voice. _‘He would have told me if he wanted to go for a run’_ Connie thought. **“I’ll go to the forest nearby, can you ask around please?”** Said the smaller boy, already running for the woods.

 Connie couldn’t help it, he was worried. He knew that Reiner could take care of himself, he knew that so well. But that strange feeling inside of him was stronger, he needed to make sure that his friend was fine.  
Once he attained the forest, the younger boy yelled the name of his friend for at least an hour. But nothing. These woods were so large that it wouldn’t be surprising if Reiner couldn’t hear him. The more he ventured into the forest and the more he felt sick. _‘Where the hell are you Reiner?’_ Connie thought. Reiner knew these woods, there was no way that he could have lost himself. Soon after he had reached the deeper part of the forest, Connie noticed a few stains of blood on the ground. The more he advanced and the more he saw them. As he continued to walk along the line formed by the blood, Connie began to breathe heavily and more deeply. **“Okay, calm down Connie.”** He said out loud, trying to stay focusedon the red marks. His heartbeats also increased at each new bloodstained leaves and trees he uncovered, and soon he couldn’t maintain his panic **“REINERRRRR!”** He yelled, but yet again, no answer from the tall blond. He could not stop but think about his friend. Was it his blood? If so, what had happened? Was it a wolf? Or worse, a Titan? Here inside the walls? Was his still alive? Badly injured, or dead? How did this happened? They were fine this morning, and now Connie was following blood in the freaking woods. His vision became blurry and it was as though the only thing Connie could see was blood surrounding him. Connie had to make great efforts not to vomit his breakfast. Throughout his run, which only lasted a few minutes (but seemed as though he had been running for more than that), his pace reached its peak, only to suddenly stop in the seconds that followed.

 There he was, leaning against a tree, his back turned to Connie. The younger boy ran to him and his first reflex was to check any visible injuries. Reiner had a really bad open wound on his forehead, another one on his right leg. **“Reiner? Can you hear me?”** Asked Connie, trying to remain as calm as possible. The younger boy wanted to scream for help, but he knew that he was too deep in the forest for anyone to hear. **“Okay big guy, you’re going to be fine, I’m here now”** Said Connie while tearing off a piece of his shirt to use it as a bandage. He wrapped it up around Reiner’s leg, trying to remember what to do next. _‘Okay Connie, think!’_ the younger boy thought, when suddenly, Reiner opened his eyes. It happened so fast, in an instant Connie was crushed against the tree, unable to breathe. Reiner had lifted him, choking him with his left arm. Connie wanted to scream, but he couldn’t, he had no air in his lungs. **“Rei…Reiner”** he tried to say, but the other boy didn’t seem to hear him. His eyes were empty as if Reiner wasn’t even aware of what he was doing. Connie tried to make any sound that was possible to make, but nothing was effective. At that moment, he knew that he was going to die. He had no strength left, almost no air to breathe. The pressure against his throat didn’t hurt anymore, he didn’t feel anything. But he couldn’t help but to feel sad for Reiner, because he knew that it wasn’t him, that his friend wasn’t aware of what was going on, otherwise he would have stopped. _‘It’s okay Reiner’_ Connie thought. _‘Take care...’_. Connie smiled, closed his eyes and then … nothing.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed chapter 2! 
> 
> I just wanted to point out a few things. 
> 
> * Christa (or Krista if you prefer) never said anything about her real name, the all arc about the Reiss family never happened here (maybe it will, I don't know yet)
> 
> * They didn't discover much yet, everyone still thinks that Eren is the only one capable of turning into a Titan, they don't know anything about Bertholt and Annie (or the people from Marley and everything.)
> 
>  
> 
> Also, I'll be in New-York city by the end of the week. I'm staying there until the end of the month so I don't know when I'll be able to post chapter 3. But please stay tuned! 
> 
> :) :)


	3. Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See the end of the chapter for notes

**“PROVE IT TO ME NOW!”** Reiner yelled, looking at the dark figure in front of him.

 

**“… it’s about the get here”** Said a panicking voice, coming from a dark figure.

 

  **“NOOOOOOOO PLEASE…”** another voice screamed just in front of him.

 

**“ANNIE NOW!”** … yelled Reiner.

 

*

*

*

 

**“Rei-Reiner …”** Connie whispered.

 

Reiner strengthened his grip. He was holding on to something but he didn’t know what it was. He just knew that he had to held onto it. _‘Don’t let go’_ he heard in his head. The boy was scared and his entire body hurt like hell. He was in the dark, he didn’t know how or when he had gotten here. He didn’t want to be here, he needed to be with his friends, his family. Where he belonged. But he couldn’t, he was stuck. He wanted to scream, wanted someone to help him but he was alone, nothing would come out of his mouth, not a single word. _‘No, don’t go, you’re safe here’_ he heard again. What was it? Could Reiner trust this voice? He didn’t know.

 

**“Rei…ner”** the smaller boy murmured again. But this time, the echo was less loud. _‘Where are you Con?’_ Reiner thought. It was quite odd. Reiner couldn’t speak, he could only feel and think, nothing more. _‘What the hell is going on?’_ he thought angrily. The big guy could still feel that he was holding onto something, he still put the same strength on his grip. _‘Don’t let go Reiner’_ he heard that voice again at the back of his head, it was like a whisper in his ears. But then, he thought about Connie. He had heard his voice twice already since he had wokenup in here. Maybe the younger boy needed him. Reiner remembered the night before, when he had woken up from his nightmare, his friend had been there for him, he always is. _‘No’_ Reiner thought. _‘Con needs me, I can’t stay’_ he thought again. And it was at that moment, that the boy let go.

 

When Reiner came back to his sense, he realized his previous sensation of letting go of his friend had been but an impression. Before his eyes was Conny’s neck, still trapped between his fingers, which were as firm as ever. He didn’t know how he managed to let go of his friend, but he did. He had let go of Connie who was now on the floor, crying and gasping for air. Why had Reiner done this? Why would he even think about attacking Connie? The only one who was always there for him. **“Con…”** whispered Reiner, still not moving from his spot. He didn’t know if he could approach him or not. He wanted it, he wanted to help him, to tell him how sorry he was, but he could not. Not after what had happened.

 

**“It’s … it’s okay”** said Connie, still trying to catch his breath, and desperately trying to have a smile on his face.  **“No it’s not”** replied the blond, **“look at you, I … I almost killed you!”** he said in a shaky voice. He couldn’t even bear to look at his friend. Why would he do something like this? He never hurt anyone before, no humans at least. **“I’m so sorry”** he said. **“I didn’t …”** he tried, **“I didn’t mean to hurt you.”** he said with tears in his eyes, now looking at the injured boy. At that moment, it was like all strength had left Reiner, and he collapsed in front of his friend. He couldn’t stop crying, his body was shaking violently. He should have listen to Connie’s voice in his dream, and not the other one. How could he have hesitated? _‘You’re such an idiot Braun’_ he thought to himself _‘you deserve nothing more but to be eaten by a fucking Titan’_. The young man was still curled up upon himself, wishing he could go back over what he did, when he felt Connie’s body wrapping around his own body.  **“Reiner… hey, please stop”** the younger boy whispered. **“I’m fine… we both are.”** They stayed like this for a moment, when Connie decided to let go of him. **“Come on now, we have to get back to the castle”** said Connie with a small voice. **“I asked Sasha to help me find you, she must be worried sick”** he added. The short-headed boy had gotten up, he extended his hand to help his friend, who hadn’t said a word since his breakdown. The latter gazed around, not looking at anything in particular, until he reached for Connie’s hand to get up. Reiner wiped his eyes before gathering all their stuff.

 

They needed to go back home. The others were apparently looking for them and the night was almost here. They were both too weak to spend the night outside their beds. Especially Connie. The bigger boy had seen the mark print that he had left on his friend’s throat. How would they explain this to their friends? Reiner already knew that Connie must have thought of something, but he didn’t know If he wanted him to lie about what happened. Everything was Reiner’s fault, and he didn’t deserve to be protected for something so big. The taller boy tear one of his sleeves up and used what was left of his water, to wet it down. **“Here, you can use this…”** Reiner held out **“It would help for the swelling on your…”** he couldn’t finish his sentence. He was so angry at himself that he couldn’t stand looking at Connie any longer.

 

They didn’t say anything to each other after that. They walked back to the castle just in time for supper, and of course they were not so well received by their captains and the rest of their friends. Sasha had slapped them both in the face when they entered the room. Eren and Jean lectured Connie about not having told them that Reiner was missing, the blond tried to tell them that he wasn’t, that he only needed to be left alone for a bit. Afterwards, Levi wanted to punish both of them with no dinner, but after a conversation with the captain, they explained that Connie had fallen during their walk in the woods, and that he needed to eat something so he could get better. The constriction mark on Connie’s throat had turned into a big blueish bruise, which kind of helped for the make-up story. Reiner wasn’t allowed to eat, so once all the minds were appeased, he left the dining room for his own, without Connie.

 

When he was finally alone, the blond sat on his bed, facing Connie’s and thinking that maybe he should leave the room, just in case. _‘I don’t want to hurt him again’_ he thought. He knew Connie could defend himself, and that against Titans, he was as strong as Reiner was, but the blond knew that he could have killed him if he hadn’t woken up from his dream. He could still see his friend’s face… turning into blue, gasping for breath. The boy covered his face, sensing that the tears were about to slip again.  **“Hey…”** he heard. Reiner uncovered his eyes to see Connie, sitting in front of him. He had been so absorbed by the self-loathing that he hadn’t heard the younger boy get in. **“I saved you some bread from Sasha, here…”** Connie held the food to him, but Reiner didn’t reach out for it. **“Why?”** he whispered. **“Why aren’t you upset after what I did to you?”** he asked. Connie got up and sat beside him. He looked at Reiner who didn’t dare to look back at him **“Because I know that he wasn’t you back there.”** He said. **“After everything we’ve been through, I know that you wouldn’t intentionally hurt me”** he added. Connie caught Reiner’s hand into his own. That was a funny thing to see, Reiner’s hand was so big compare to Connie’s, but still … they perfectly fit in a way. **“Hey, please look at me”** Connie asked. Reiner knew this particular tone his friend used so rarely and slowly, he looked back at him. Their eyes met, they locked into each other as if nothing else around them had ever existed. One of the remaining tear slipped down Reiner’s cheek, and Connie caught it with his thumb. **“I’m here, I’ll always be”** he whispered. That’s all it took for Reiner to withdrawn his interior shields, and to burst in tears, falling in Connie’s arms.     

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLOOOOOO! 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed chapter three, this one was a cool one to write! :)
> 
> I'm finally back! I'm so sorry, the last two months have been crazy! New-York, finals at school (btw, not sure I'll graduate this year, but hey please prayers for me guys!) 
> 
> Now that almost everything is behind me (still have a couple of exams, but mosty done) I'll get to post more! 
> 
> I'm so happy to continue this story, I missed Reiner and Connie so much! haha 
> 
> So, how do you like SNK season 3 b so far? It's so nice to see Reiner again, even thought he is the bad guy. I really hope to see more fanfiction about him and Connie, they're so great. 
> 
> Anyway! If you have any questions related to the story, please post them in the comment section, I'll be happy to answer them ^^. 
> 
> I'll see you soon for chapter 4! (and not in two months this time, I swear!) 
> 
> k.


	4. Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> see the note at the end! 
> 
> Enjoy this new chapter :)

A couple of days had passed since the incident between Reiner and Connie, and neither of them ever brought the subject of what happened, ever again. Connie didn’t mind, he knew that Reiner wasn’t himself that day, but he was also well aware that his friend still felt bad about all of it, and Connie didn’t know what to do. That night, they had discussed about Reiner’s dream. Connie had promised to never say anything about this to the others, but the smaller boy couldn’t help but worry about his friend. He kept wondering if all of this could be related to the loss of his memories. During the attack of wall Maria, a year ago, the two of them were separated, they weren’t in the same squad. Reiner had ended up with Mikasa, Bertolt, Annie, Marco and a couple of senior soldiers, while Connie had teamed up with Sasha, Jean, Samuel and Hannah. It wasn’t until the end of the day, that Connie got informed about Reiner’s condition. He never knew the full story of what happened that day. He only got pieces of information by Mikasa, who told Connie that she had been separated from the rest of her group. He couldn’t blame her, she had been so efficient during the attack that it wouldn’t be fair to be mad, plus, no one would have ever thought that Reiner could get hurt, the “golden boy” had been the second best of their class, but they all had been fooled that day. They thought that they would be able to change the world, that their class would be the new generation of Scouts that could beat the Titans. They were naive, too young and unexperienced. Half of the new recruits got killed, including Marco Bott who was classed seventh in the 104thTraining corps. 

 

When Reiner woke up, two weeks after the attack, Connie got busy with trying to help his friend as much as he could. He never thought about asking Bertolt and Annie, who were in Reiner’s team, maybe he should have. It was too late anyway, they were no longer with them. _‘I can’t change the past’_ Connie thought.

 

 It was past noon, Captain Levi always let them have a break after lunch, he knew that the younger troops were more efficient after a free moment where they could do whatever they wanted. As usual, Connie laid in the grass near one of his favorite tree. It was his spot, he went there every time he needed to think or just to rest. He allowed Reiner to come with him most of the time, but Jean wanted to show the big blond a new move that he learned with his GM gear. Of course, Reiner had asked him to come with them, but the smaller boy had declined the offer, explaining to the guys that he needed to digest the big lunch they just had.  So it was just Connie, in his favorite spot, enjoying the sun. Well at least for a moment, until Krista decided to show up.

 

  **“I thought you’ll be willing to share this big apple with me”** said the young girl while sitting next to Connie. She cut the apple in half and gave a part to her friend. Connie filled his mouth with the piece of apple, it wasn’t so big so he knew that Krista was here for something else. It was weird though, usually she was followed by Ymir. The two of them shared an weird relationship. Most of the team thought that they were best friends and that was it, but those who used to be from the 104thTraining Corps knew that it was more than that. It was not Connie’s business. Krista was as important as Sasha, she was like a sister to Connie. She knew that she could talk with him about anything.

 

**“It’s kind of surprising to see you alone”** Connie said while watching the sky, he turned his face towards Krista who was watching him **“where is your puppy?”** he mischievously said. Ymir and him were always fighting, they couldn’t help it. It was like that every time they were together, they needed to be picking onto one another, like they were kids. Usually, Ymir was the one to starts the hostility by calling Connie “shorty” or “Reiner’s small shadow”. She knew that Connie didn’t like people making fun of him because of his size, so it was pretty easy for her to upset him. That said, once they were on the battle field, Ymir and Connie could make a pretty good pair. The small boy could recall a few times where the two of them gave a really hard time to titans.

 

**“Don’t be mean to her when she’s not there to defend herself, Con”** said Krista smiling. **“I told her that I wanted to talk to you, so she went hang out with Sasha and Armin”** she added.

 

_‘So I was right’_ Connie thought. The boy straighten up and turned around Krista. **“What do you want to talk to me about?”**. Krista acted weird, usually the young girl didn’t need to hid from the others when she wanted to talk about something. This, whatever it was, must have been pretty important.

 

**“I .. well I don’t know how else to put it”** she said shyly. **“Could you tell me what’s going on between you and Reiner?”** she asked closing her eyes, too embarrassed by what she just said.

 

Connie could feel his blood running through his face **“what do you mean by what’s going between me and him?”** he asked. **“Nothing’s going on between me and him”** he added while getting up, turning his back to Krista. Was she referring to their relationship? Nothing had changed between them, they were the same old Reiner and Connie, and that’s it.

 

**“Oh please don’t get upset”** she said **“it’s just… that I noticed that you guys acted differently with one another ever since you got back from that forest”**. She moved from her spot and came face to face with Connie **“I don’t know what happened there, but you know that you can tell me anything, right Con?”** she added looking straight into Connie’s eyes.

 

Connie didn’t like this. He knew that he could tell anything to Krista and that she would kept his secrets until the day she would die, but Connie had promised Reiner to not talk about this. What happened there must stay there. So what was he supposed to do know? Lie to Krista? **“Nothing Kris, everything is good between him and I”** lied Connie. He knew that it wouldn’t be enough, that Krista could read him as if he was an open book. Maybe Connie could still say something, but not too much. **“It’s just, that when I fell in those woods, I got hurt and Reiner thinks that it’s his fault, but it wasn’t. So we’ve talked about it the night we came back, and he got a little bit overwhelmed by his emotions. That’s it.”** Connie added. The cover story wasn’t all a lie, the boy felt relieved.

 

Krista smiled at him, and Connie knew that she noticed that there was more than what he had said, but she wouldn’t ask to know more. That’s how she was, respectful and she would never be intrusive. **“You know that you’re the only one of us that has this kind of power over Reiner”** she said. **“He trusts you so much, that he doesn’t need to have his shields when he’s around you”** She smiled again and grabbed Connie’s hand **“come on now, we can’t be late to practice or we’ll be the ones helping for Eren’s training".**  

 

________

 

At the end of the day, all the members of the Survey Corps gathered in the dining-room. As usual, Connie sat next to Reiner. He couldn’t help but to oversee Krista and Ymir who were at the end of the big table, and of course the small blond was looking at him with the biggest smile ever _‘come on Krista, could you try to be less nosy’_ Connie thought. Connie returned his attention to Reiner who was pretty busy with his piece of meat. Connie filled his plate with potatoes and started to eat. **“So how was your training with Jean?”** he asked his mouth full of food.

 

**“That was great, his new tactic can actually be useful. Now we need to see if we can practice it against real titans”** he replied, still pretty busy with what was on his plate. It was funny how Reiner wasn’t even afraid of titans anymore. Connie wasn’t as well, probably because he got to train with a real titan pretty much every day, thanks to Eren. Now, he knew that he still needed to be extremely careful outside the walls, he wasn’t unbeatable, none of them were. Once he was done with his plate, Reiner finally looked around himself, and he noticed that Krista was looking at them **“What’s wrong with Kris tonight?”** he questioned Connie **“she didn’t stop looking at you ever since we stepped in”** he added while looking at his friend.

 

Connie almost chocked on his food. He thought that Reiner was too busy with his meal to notice what was going on around him. Connie emptied his drink before looking back at Reiner **“we spent our free time together”** he said **“you.. you know, we’ve talked about stuff, we had a good moment”** he added, trying to stay as neutral about all of this as possible. He couldn’t tell Reiner that he had told something to Krista, he knew that the bigger boy would be mad.

 

**“Oh yeah? What kind of stuff?”** Reiner asked, now interested about the topic. Well, now Connie didn’t have a choice but to say something.

 

**“Well …”** Connie hesitated. **“I think she suspects that something happened that day in the forest” t** he smaller boy added. He was now looking at Reiner who seemed to be quite shook about what he just heard. **“Hey, I promised I wouldn’t say anything, and I didn’t. So please, don’t look at me like that, everything is fine.”** Connie said while finishing up his plate.

 

After that, Connie, Reiner and all the former cadets from the 104thTraining Corps, gathered in the big common room. It was usual for the younger group of Scouts to stay up late, it was a habit they had since the first day they became cadets back at the training camp. But they weren’t as many of them as they used to, unfortunately. They talked about everything, their lives before their trainings, their families, the ones they lost. It was their moment. Armin and Krista were in charge of calling it for a day, usually a bit before midnight. Once they said goodnight to each other, they split into small groups and went into their rooms.

 

_‘It was a good day’_ Connie thought, once he was settle in his comfortable bed. He could hear Reiner’s regular breathing, which meant that the blond wasn’t asleep yet. But the boy didn’t want to bother his friend, so he didn’t say anything. He simply enjoyed the moment. The silence of the place. He could hear the little noises of the quiet castle, the falling rain on the roof and the powerful wind that made the row of trees dance. Connie liked it, that last moment of peace after a very long day. He felt safe. The boy fell asleep a few moment after this last thought, and he should have last until the morning, but it didn’t happen that way.

 

**“ARGHHHHHH!!!”** Reiner yelled.

 

Connie woke up, his heart pounding in his chest. He couldn’t see anything except the small light coming from the shinning moon, then he heard a big noise, Reiner had picked up something near his bed and had thrown it against the wall of their bedroom. The sound was so loud that he thought that the piece of furniture had been thrown near him, but it didn’t.  **“Reiner, what’s going on?”** the boy tried, now up on his bed, trying to locate his friend. The room was dark, but his eyes started to get used to it. The blond was near the bathroom, facing the door. Connie couldn’t get there on time that Reiner had already broken it.

**“Reiner, stop!”** the smaller boy yelled, now blocking the blond near the door. His eyes were closed and his features hardened, his fists were clenched and it looked like Connie wasn’t even heard by the bigger man. **“Reiner please, you need to wake up!”.** Was Reiner dreaming? What was going on with him? 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello guys! 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed chapter 4! 
> 
> I know that there is lot of dialogue on this one, but hey! it's important to make the characters talk haha. 
> 
> I just wanted to point out, that in this story, Krysta is still named Krysta, and not Historia. The entire plot with the Reiss family never happened here (don't know what I'm going to do with it, but I'm working on it)- also, in the anime or manga, we only see Connie with Sasha, so that's why I wanted Krista to be the one talking with him about Reiner, and here I like to think that Krista and Connie are really close friends, they all are of course, but I don't think Jean would come to Connie to talk about that, so Krista was a good call, I think. 
> 
> I know it's a little bit slow, but I think it's really important to focus on a few problems with Reiner first, before going further into the story. I'm going to try to move on a little bit in the story with chapter five, I don't want go too fast, so please stay on board! 
> 
> Let me know what you guys think ! 
> 
> I'll see you soon!

**Author's Note:**

> Please please let me know if you have questions and your thoughts. 
> 
> If you want to send love, well please do! x) I'm really not sure about this you guys but I had to post this. 
> 
> see you soon! (I hope) 
> 
> Bisous!


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